SMF

Yes Curt, welcome aboard.

Okay I now have the NOS tallow AOS sandalwood.
I don't know if it lathers as easily as Tabac but it's a great performer!
Lathers easy and sucks up a ton of water.
I fought with the reformulated version for 18 months until
I realized all those great reviews were for the older tallow version.
By comparison the "new reformulated" soap is awful and AOS wants $30 for a refill puck.

This tread peaked my interest so I went and ordered some today. I really don't care for anything from AOS. BUT if Gary say's this soap is good I'm giving it a try. Then I'll have some sort after soap that mite not be around for long.

http://www.haircareandbeauty.com/art-of ... 10225.html

Anthony

Anthony, I think you'll like it, but if not, I'll buy it from you!

Lol, Thanks Gary. Can't wait to try it.

Anthony

Hi all, Tried the AOS original Shave soap with Tallow today. Wow! I can't believe the AOS had a great product like this. I don't like any of there stuff but this soap is Great! Really nice lather and a great shave. Why would they change a Good thing?? Anyway thanks for the heads up Gary. Sorry your not getting any.

Anthony

Anthony, the soap in question was made by Valobra in Italy. (It is the same as the soap in the Valobra Shave Stick and the new Valobra hard cakes.)

When Procter & Gamble bought out AoS, I wondered how long they would continue to import from Italy a soap made by someone else, so I stocked up on the Valobra-made AoS soap then. I'm surprised that they waited as long as they did to replace it.

- Murray

Hey Murray thanks for the heads up. It's amazing to me that a company does Not see when something isn't working and change it back. anyway thanks again.

Anthony

Love the scent.
Love the lather.
Ordered 3 more pucks, maybe I should have gotten more?

Curt

flintlock wrote:Hi all, Tried the AOS original Shave soap with Tallow today. Wow! I can't believe the AOS had a great product like this. I don't like any of there stuff but this soap is Great! Really nice lather and a great shave. Why would they change a Good thing?? Anyway thanks for the heads up Gary. Sorry your not getting any.

Anthony

That's great news Anthony. I'm glad you like it. Enjoy!

Just about a year has gone by since I spent a month using this great old soap exclusively. It's been a good period of getting rid of some less-than-satisfactory products and miraculously finding a small few that meet or even exceed the performance of the tallow AOS. It was time well spent, and now I'm back at the top of my list. I'm anticipating another year of shaving enjoyment starting with a long anticipated return to the AOS soap.

flintlock wrote:Why would they change a Good thing??

Not sure whether that's just a rhetorical question, but I'm sure splitting profits with Valobra had something to do with it.

flintlock wrote:It's amazing to me that a company does Not see when something isn't working and change it back.

I think it's safe to presume purchases have gone down, among shaving hobbyists.
But, has the total sales rate for their shaving soaps gone down? I'm not sure that it has.

A year ago (in this same thread) someone asked me how the recently introduced Harris Sandalwood compares with the obsolete tallow AOS Sandalwood. The dust has had time to settle, and I am prepared to say I'm still using the AOS, but I stopped using the Harris Sandalwood, and have relegated it to the box where all of my good but not my cup of tea products are awaiting a future date of reckoning. The Sandalwood scent of Harris just doesn't please me as well as AOS does. Also, while both contain tallow, I find Harris soaps to be sudsy in the beginning, and they take too much loading time to get enough product to make the lather I prefer. Just a personal preference for which I do not apologize. I give full credit to Valobra who made the AOS soap I am using. News Flash!!! --- AOS tallow sandalwood shaving soap has been continuously, and still is, in stock at the NYC based internet firm from which I purchased mine over a year ago. They must have bought a container ship load of it from somewhere. It's cheap too, but is subject to selling out at any time.

brothers wrote:A year ago (in this same thread) someone asked me how the recently introduced Harris Sandalwood compares with the obsolete tallow AOS Sandalwood. The dust has had time to settle, and I am prepared to say I'm still using the AOS, but I stopped using the Harris Sandalwood, and have relegated it to the box where all of my good but not my cup of tea products are awaiting a future date of reckoning. The Sandalwood scent of Harris just doesn't please me as well as AOS does. Also, while both contain tallow, I find Harris soaps to be sudsy in the beginning, and they take too much loading time to get enough product to make the lather I prefer. Just a personal preference for which I do not apologize. I give full credit to Valobra who made the AOS soap I am using. News Flash!!! --- AOS tallow sandalwood shaving soap has been continuously, and still is, in stock at the NYC based internet firm from which I purchased mine over a year ago. They must have bought a container ship load of it from somewhere. It's cheap too, but is subject to selling out at any time.

It is indeed a great soap, I'm glad I stocked up on it last year - should have enough to last me a decade, considering the current rotation.

Today, the AOS tallow Sandalwood soap ran out. It lasted me through 52 luxurious shaves. I loaded the brush on the soap with water for 20 seconds. A year ago I used it 26 shaves, and this year, it yielded 25 before it disappeared. The next time AOS comes up, probably near the end of 2016, I will probably use the AOS Sandalwood shaving cream instead of starting a new puck of soap. I also have a tub of the AOS Peppermint shaving cream. Maybe I'll use them both off and on. It gives me a real sense of accomplishment to finish another one off.

I have one unopened tallow puck of AOS Sandalwood and am waiting for another old tallow soap to be used up.
If you search Ebay, there are some available now for $14-$16 dollars or so, with free shipping.
I just bought another for later use.

Just received my first puck of AoS NOS Sandalwood yesterday, and inaugurated it this morning. I must say that it is as close to sandalwood as any soap I have tried, but still lacks depth of what I would consider to be true sandalwood. I personally find the scent strength on the light side, but not too light. The ease of lathering and the shave were incredible! Wow! Thanks for the encouragement, Gary!!

John, that's such a well-performing soap it just boggles the mind that they'd want to change it. I'm glad you were able to get some before it goes away for good.